Democrazy

Stop Impunity

Areas of Focus Montage

Internally Displaced Persons

Building a culture of accountability

Child Soldeirs

End Impunity Cycle In Kenya

Capacity Building

Kenya Devolution Portal Focused Group Discussion Forum at Taveta County

Kenya Devolution Portal Interface

Legislators in cohort with Executive Dangerous Politics Detracting Country from Addressing Core Matters of National Interest

Members of Parliament and Executive Insidious Parochialism Detracting Country from Addressing Core Matters of National Interest

International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) express grave concern on irresponsible, preposterous and obnoxious political utterances being propagated by legislators with tacit support of the Executive across the political divide with intent of causing hatred amongst and between different ethnic and political social groups.

We are further observing that despite the gravity and the dire possible outcomes of these baseless, hypocritical and reckless political utterances and acts the President and Prime Minister are treating it with rudderless, carefree and casually.

These political activities and utterances amount to promotion of ethnic nationalism which can easily erupt into ethnic conflagration.

Members of Parliament are expected to demonstrate high threshold of political maturity, integrity, honesty and exercise elevated political restrain and caution while dealing with weighty matters like enforcement and implementation of the Constitution, ICC and post-election violence accountability, and tackling deep-rooted graft and impunity. Unfortunately, they have deliberately chosen to take a misguided and misleading political rhetoric route jeopardizing national interest.

Kenya is still rated poorly on most governance issues such as political stability, control of corruption, and rule of law despite promulgating a new constitutional order. The culture of impunity is still very rife. Corruption is still a major problem with little confidence that serious action is being taken that would stem high-level corruption.

While little progress has been made in security, judicial and electoral reforms, and no credible national efforts to bring to account those responsible for post election violence, ICC issue has inevitably been caught up in crossfire of raw political propaganda and misinformation.

Accountability issues in Kenya will only move forward starting with high-level prosecutions of those allegedly involved in corruption and impunity. The President and the Prime Minister political rhetoric fall far short of supportive bold leadership.

It is unessential for the Members of Parliament to claim and mobilizing their supporters around a parochial and false message that International Criminal Court is pursuing a political agenda and that Kenya can withdraw from the ICC statute and refuse to cooperate in regard to the current process.

The ICC issue is far too important to leave to extremists, propagandists and others who wish to see emboldened continuation of climate of impunity in Kenya. Unbalanced, misleading and simply inaccurate political information being hauled by politicians is might to merely confuse public perceptions and cause despondent of the ICC. It is essential to cut away this self-serving propaganda that is already clouding the whole issue.

It is highest level of Parliamentary tyranny to purport to debate withdrawal from the Rome Statute and disbanding of a constitutionally established Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission (KNHREC) just when there is a glimmer of hope that justice will eventually be rendered to victims of post-election violence.

All these machinations and political power plays which are ill informed and advised are aimed at protecting and shielding certain individuals from facing justice and resuscitating their much hyped political careers.

There is a real risk of further and perhaps more severe violence emerging in the run-up to or around the next elections. Kenya’s window to implement the critical reforms is already beginning to close and may be completely shut from 2011 of the current political trend is anything by.

We are urging people of Kenya to heighten a sustained public vigilance and sobriety in order to push forward the reforms and accountability agenda.

Further we are calling upon the International Community to proactively deploy diplomatic mechanisms in isolating and restricting the operational space of those adversely mentioned and summons are requested in connection to post-election violence serious crimes including refusing to transact any state-state business with them.